Jammu & Kashmir Sees 2 Cloudbursts Within Hours: How Much Water Do Clouds Hold?

Last Updated:August 17, 2025, 12:00 IST

Jammu & Kashmir Sees 2 Cloudbursts Within Hours: Five persons lost their lives in Jodh Ghati, while two persons lost their lives in a landslide triggered by rains at Janglote area

Debris and mud accumulated in a residential area following a cloudburst, in Kathua on Sunday. (PTI)

Jammu and Kashmir saw two separate cloudbursts on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The calamity struck Jodh Ghati village of Rajbagh and Janglote in two separate incidents amid heavy rain in the district during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

Five persons lost their lives in Jodh Ghati, while two persons lost their lives in a landslide triggered by rains at Janglote area, PTI reported.

The tragedy comes days after a cloudburst in Chisoti village of Kishtwar district on August 14, which killed at least 60 people and left more than 100 injured.

What is a cloudburst?

A cloudburst is an extreme and sudden rainfall event over a small area in a short period of time, typically leading to flash floods.

Intensity: Rainfall exceeds 100 mm (about 4 inches) per hour.

Duration: Usually lasts for a few minutes to a couple of hours.

Area: Affects a very localized region—often just a few square kilometers.

Impact: Can cause flash floods, landslides, and severe damage, especially in mountainous or poorly drained areas.

What causes a cloudburst?

It occurs when moisture-laden clouds are unable to release rain gradually. Instead, the moisture accumulates rapidly and is released all at once due to strong convection currents or unstable atmospheric conditions. The result: 100 mm or more of rain may fall within an hour over a very localized area (e.g., 10 km² or less).

• Warm, moist air rapidly rises (usually due to orographic lift in hilly areas).
• This air cools and condenses quickly, forming heavy clouds.
• If the clouds can’t release water gradually, it results in a sudden, intense downpour.

Where does a cloudburst occur?

Mountainous regions like the Himalayas, especially in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Areas with unstable atmospheric conditions.

How much water do clouds hold?

A typical rain cloud — especially cumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorm clouds) — can weigh hundreds of thousands to millions of tons, made up of tiny water droplets and ice particles suspended by rising air.

These clouds can span many kilometres in height and width. For example, a cloud just 1 km³ in volume can hold up to 500 million litres of water vapour.

What triggers a sudden downpour?

In events like cloudbursts, a perfect storm of conditions occurs:

Strong updrafts (rising warm air) keep large amounts of water suspended.

Once the air can’t hold it anymore, due to cooling or a sudden disruption (like wind shear or collision with mountains), the entire load of water falls rapidly as rain.

This process is highly localized, often hitting a small area intensely — like pouring an entire swimming pool on a small neighbourhood.

Billion litres possible in a minute?

1 km² area receiving 100 mm of rain (which is 0.1 m) =

1,000 m × 1,000 m × 0.1 m = 100,000 m³

= 100 million litres in a single downpour.

If 10 km² is affected at once:

100 million litres × 10 = 1 billion litres.

This much water can fall in a minute or less during a cloudburst — especially when rainfall exceeds 100 mm/hour or even reaches 200-300 mm/hour, which has been recorded in events in the Himalayas and Western Ghats.

Which were some of the worst cloudbursts?

Leh, India (2010): A cloudburst dropped ~75 mm of rain in just 30 minutes over a tiny area, causing devastating flash floods.

Kedarnath, India (2013): Cloudbursts triggered massive floods and landslides, killing thousands.

Uttarakhand (2023–24): Several instances of 100–150 mm of rain in under an hour were recorded, dumping hundreds of millions of litres.

Manjiri Joshi

At the news desk for 17 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing special copies ...Read More

At the news desk for 17 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing special copies ...

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First Published:

August 17, 2025, 11:59 IST

News explainers Jammu & Kashmir Sees 2 Cloudbursts Within Hours: How Much Water Do Clouds Hold?

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